The US state of Texas has reportedly pulled its voter registration system out of an ongoing $863 million data center consolidation project being handled by IBM.
Texas Secretary of State's office is said to have cut the project because of data security and disaster recoverability fears.
According to the news report in ComputerWorld, the decision was prompted by an incident in August when a server being managed by IBM crashed resulting in a 13-day outage of the office's business records filing system.
The news article quotes a spokesman from the Secretary of State's office saying that the incident exposed "weaknesses" in IBM's ability to recover lost data.
As a result of the concerns expressed by the Secretary of State's office, Texas Governor Rick Perry and the state's Department of Information Resources, which is overseeing the IBM contract, gave permission for the agency to withdraw its election systems from the contract, the report said. Following its withdrawal from the IBM project, the agency will set up its own data center with two separate back-up locations.
According to the report, an IBM was performing for the Secretary of State's office shows that the project started in November 2004 and was supposed to have been completed by January 2006.
Under the contract, IBM was supposed to have helped Texas build a statewide voter registration system that would be complaint with Help America Vote Act standards.
The new system known as the Texas Election Administration Management, or TEAM, system will replace the existing Texas Voter Registration System.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
IT market
Now, know what Google knows about you
Google has opened a window for users to see what records the Internet giant keeps regarding their activities at YouTube, Gmail, Reader and other accounts.
Dashboard summarizes data kept about use of more than 20 of the California-based firm's services, according to a blog post by Google engineer Alma Whitten, product manager Yariv Adan, and vice president Marissa Mayer.
"The Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use and provides you direct links to control your personal settings," the message said.
"The scale and level of detail of the Dashboard is unprecedented, and we're delighted to be the first Internet company to offer this and we hope it will become the standard."
Only information shared with Google while logged into accounts at its Web properties is included in Dashboard summaries.
People can change settings or delete data, which is viewable by account owners online at google.com/dashboard/.
"We are very aware of the trust that you have placed in us, and our responsibility to protect your privacy and data," Adan, Mayer, and Whitten said.
Dashboard does not include information Google records without identifying accounts of users. Data kept independent of accounts includes "server logs" with details of searches, Web browser types and computer IP addresses.
Also separated from accounts is information from snippets of code called "cookies" and search activity data used to target advertising, according to Google.
Dashboard summarizes data kept about use of more than 20 of the California-based firm's services, according to a blog post by Google engineer Alma Whitten, product manager Yariv Adan, and vice president Marissa Mayer.
"The Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use and provides you direct links to control your personal settings," the message said.
"The scale and level of detail of the Dashboard is unprecedented, and we're delighted to be the first Internet company to offer this and we hope it will become the standard."
Only information shared with Google while logged into accounts at its Web properties is included in Dashboard summaries.
People can change settings or delete data, which is viewable by account owners online at google.com/dashboard/.
"We are very aware of the trust that you have placed in us, and our responsibility to protect your privacy and data," Adan, Mayer, and Whitten said.
Dashboard does not include information Google records without identifying accounts of users. Data kept independent of accounts includes "server logs" with details of searches, Web browser types and computer IP addresses.
Also separated from accounts is information from snippets of code called "cookies" and search activity data used to target advertising, according to Google.
HCL, IT market
Microsoft launches online services in India
Software giant Microsoft today announced the commercial availability of its online services in India at prices starting from $2 (Rs 95) per user per month which will allow small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and enterprise customers to access Microsoft’s e-mail, collaboration, conferencing and productivity capabilities online.
The services, that include Microsoft Online Services product family, offers Exchange Online (for e-mail) and Office SharePoint Online (portals and collaboration), Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services and Microsoft Office Communications Online (for instant messaging and presence), from Saturday.
“Customers can access a suite of products directly from the company website and pay a use-based monthly subscription fee and thus manage their IT needs efficiently and lower their IT spend 10-50 per cent,” said Microsoft’s Business Group President Stephen Elop while launching the services here today.
Microsoft has partnered with HCL Infosystems, Infosys and Wipro to market and offer value-added services around the Microsoft Online Services.
The services, that include Microsoft Online Services product family, offers Exchange Online (for e-mail) and Office SharePoint Online (portals and collaboration), Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services and Microsoft Office Communications Online (for instant messaging and presence), from Saturday.
“Customers can access a suite of products directly from the company website and pay a use-based monthly subscription fee and thus manage their IT needs efficiently and lower their IT spend 10-50 per cent,” said Microsoft’s Business Group President Stephen Elop while launching the services here today.
Microsoft has partnered with HCL Infosystems, Infosys and Wipro to market and offer value-added services around the Microsoft Online Services.
IT market, new openings
Thomson to expand Bangalore operations
Global information services provider Thomson Reuters will be looking at expanding the operations at its captive technology centre in Bangalore as it considers this unit strategic for its world-wide IT requirements.
Without getting into specifics of the expansion plan, James Powell, CTO, Thomson Reuters said, “We will grow over time and we see this (Bangalore) as strategic centre....There is going to be a positive momentum.”
Thomson Reuters has around 7,000 people in India of which around 2,000 are engaged in the technology operations. Mr Powell said that Bangalore is a strategic centre for them on par with its other large development centres in London and New York.
The Bangalore centre is engaged in wide variety of IT activity for Thomson Reuters, which include product management, quality assurance, content technologies among others. At the same time, Thomson Reuters has certain third party engagements with IT services vendors like Infosys Technologies.
However, the company does not see any change in the relationship with these vendors with their own expansion plans, as it is keen to do core IT work by themselves.
Mr Powell said, “I’m a big fan of using our own staff and we believe that we can offer some great opportunities for technologists here.”
Thomson Reuters which is still on the course of its merger process is expecting that the single unified unit will give them better visibility of attracting the right kind of talent. The CTO said, “We are confident of allocating work to any of the three global development centres and not necessarily looking at Bangalore as an offhsore destination.”
Thomson Reuters which provides information to both businesses and professionals to a wide variety of sectors is looking at addressing new segments in India.
Without getting into specifics of the expansion plan, James Powell, CTO, Thomson Reuters said, “We will grow over time and we see this (Bangalore) as strategic centre....There is going to be a positive momentum.”
Thomson Reuters has around 7,000 people in India of which around 2,000 are engaged in the technology operations. Mr Powell said that Bangalore is a strategic centre for them on par with its other large development centres in London and New York.
The Bangalore centre is engaged in wide variety of IT activity for Thomson Reuters, which include product management, quality assurance, content technologies among others. At the same time, Thomson Reuters has certain third party engagements with IT services vendors like Infosys Technologies.
However, the company does not see any change in the relationship with these vendors with their own expansion plans, as it is keen to do core IT work by themselves.
Mr Powell said, “I’m a big fan of using our own staff and we believe that we can offer some great opportunities for technologists here.”
Thomson Reuters which is still on the course of its merger process is expecting that the single unified unit will give them better visibility of attracting the right kind of talent. The CTO said, “We are confident of allocating work to any of the three global development centres and not necessarily looking at Bangalore as an offhsore destination.”
Thomson Reuters which provides information to both businesses and professionals to a wide variety of sectors is looking at addressing new segments in India.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
IT market, new openings
IT's not all that hot for fresh recruits
Entry-level salaries down by 20% for software pros
Dhannanjay Kumar, a 25-year-old computer science graduate from a top engineering college in Bangalore, considers himself lucky to have found job in a year when India’s over $50-billion software outsourcing industry had to cope with falling demand and trim payroll by up to 10%.
“Not only I had to work twice as much for getting an interview, the annual salary of around Rs 1.7 lakh is much lower compared to my seniors who got Rs 3.5 lakh two years ago,” said Kumar who got hired by a Bangalore-based mid-tier software company last month.
Every year, around 3,00,000 computer science and engineering graduates seek employment with hundreds of tech firms, including big names such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro. This year, more than half of them were left unemployed because tech firms were already finding it tough to manage resources sitting on the bench.
A worsening economic crisis, increased availability of skilled workers and lower demand for software services have brought down the entry-level salaries for IT professionals in the country by up to 20%, according to experts tracking the sector.
“The entry-level salaries are down by at least 10-16%,” said GC Jayaprakash, principal consultant of Stanton Chase International.
Until two years ago, almost all computer and engineering graduates were absorbed by India’s outsourcing industry, comprising top tech firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and many others. However, as customers delayed and shelved outsourcing projects, these tech firms also postponed campus hirings.
“Last year, a number of companies gave away offer letters but did not recruit. On top of that, there is a new pool of qualified professionals being churned out this year -- all this has created an oversupply in the entry-level IT job market where salaries typically sway between Rs 3 lakh per annum and Rs 5 lakh on the higher side,” Mr Jayaprakash added.
Many students had to approach potential employers directly, since companies did not visit their campuses for placements.
“We formed groups and toured companies, and agreed to settle at lower salaries because it’s better to be employed at lower salary than having no job at all,” said Srilekha Varma, who recently accepted a job offer from a Chennai-based IT firm specialising in banking software.
Recruitment firms such as GlobalHunt said the entry-level salaries may have dipped by up to 30% because of increased availability of skilled professionals.
“Earlier, companies were building bench strength and doing skill development, as they were expecting large business and didn’t want to run out of manpower. Fresh graduates used to have multiple offers and they were in a position to negotiate,” said Sunil Goel, director of GlobulHunt’s Indian operations.
In a normal year, computer science graduates were offered entry-level salaries of Rs 3.5-5 lakh. However, companies are now hiring freshers at Rs 1.7 to Rs 3.5 lakh.
Meanwhile, HR heads at tech firms, including Wipro, India’s third-largest software exporter, say professionals have become more realistic about what they want from their employers.
“I don’t think salaries have come down, but the environment has indeed helped us in containing salary hikes,” Pratik Kumar, head of human resources at Wipro said.
What has also changed this year is the manner in which salary offers are being structured.
“Due to an oversupply of qualified talent there is rationalisation at entry-level salary, which is based more on performance and are variable by nature. Cost-to-company is not necessarily a comparison of the past-drawn salary,” said Ashok Reddy, managing director and co-founder of staffing company TeamLease.
Indeed, professionals who lost their jobs during the past few months, are now being offered entry-level salaries by companies who can get experienced talent at lower salary levels.
“I was working as a software testing engineer and lost my job in February. Now I have a job, but the salary is similar to what is being offered to new recruits,” said Neelesh, who has around six-month experience.
“Companies are now preferring to hire professionals who missed jobs due to slowdown, were on the bench or were laid off, because they have some kind of training and are experience compared to freshers,” said Mr Goel.
TCS said it would do new campus hiring in January 2010 and will honour all 24,000 offers made for FY09. “Around 1,800 graduates have joined us in Q2 and another 8,000 will join in Q3, rest of the graduates will join based on the demand,” a TCS spokeswoman said.
Infosys said for FY10, it has made 20,000 campus offers and expects an 80% conversion rate i.e. 16,000 of these offers to join the company. “We are honouring all our hiring commitments,” an Infosys spokeswoman said.
“Not only I had to work twice as much for getting an interview, the annual salary of around Rs 1.7 lakh is much lower compared to my seniors who got Rs 3.5 lakh two years ago,” said Kumar who got hired by a Bangalore-based mid-tier software company last month.
Every year, around 3,00,000 computer science and engineering graduates seek employment with hundreds of tech firms, including big names such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro. This year, more than half of them were left unemployed because tech firms were already finding it tough to manage resources sitting on the bench.
A worsening economic crisis, increased availability of skilled workers and lower demand for software services have brought down the entry-level salaries for IT professionals in the country by up to 20%, according to experts tracking the sector.
“The entry-level salaries are down by at least 10-16%,” said GC Jayaprakash, principal consultant of Stanton Chase International.
Until two years ago, almost all computer and engineering graduates were absorbed by India’s outsourcing industry, comprising top tech firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and many others. However, as customers delayed and shelved outsourcing projects, these tech firms also postponed campus hirings.
“Last year, a number of companies gave away offer letters but did not recruit. On top of that, there is a new pool of qualified professionals being churned out this year -- all this has created an oversupply in the entry-level IT job market where salaries typically sway between Rs 3 lakh per annum and Rs 5 lakh on the higher side,” Mr Jayaprakash added.
Many students had to approach potential employers directly, since companies did not visit their campuses for placements.
“We formed groups and toured companies, and agreed to settle at lower salaries because it’s better to be employed at lower salary than having no job at all,” said Srilekha Varma, who recently accepted a job offer from a Chennai-based IT firm specialising in banking software.
Recruitment firms such as GlobalHunt said the entry-level salaries may have dipped by up to 30% because of increased availability of skilled professionals.
“Earlier, companies were building bench strength and doing skill development, as they were expecting large business and didn’t want to run out of manpower. Fresh graduates used to have multiple offers and they were in a position to negotiate,” said Sunil Goel, director of GlobulHunt’s Indian operations.
In a normal year, computer science graduates were offered entry-level salaries of Rs 3.5-5 lakh. However, companies are now hiring freshers at Rs 1.7 to Rs 3.5 lakh.
Meanwhile, HR heads at tech firms, including Wipro, India’s third-largest software exporter, say professionals have become more realistic about what they want from their employers.
“I don’t think salaries have come down, but the environment has indeed helped us in containing salary hikes,” Pratik Kumar, head of human resources at Wipro said.
What has also changed this year is the manner in which salary offers are being structured.
“Due to an oversupply of qualified talent there is rationalisation at entry-level salary, which is based more on performance and are variable by nature. Cost-to-company is not necessarily a comparison of the past-drawn salary,” said Ashok Reddy, managing director and co-founder of staffing company TeamLease.
Indeed, professionals who lost their jobs during the past few months, are now being offered entry-level salaries by companies who can get experienced talent at lower salary levels.
“I was working as a software testing engineer and lost my job in February. Now I have a job, but the salary is similar to what is being offered to new recruits,” said Neelesh, who has around six-month experience.
“Companies are now preferring to hire professionals who missed jobs due to slowdown, were on the bench or were laid off, because they have some kind of training and are experience compared to freshers,” said Mr Goel.
TCS said it would do new campus hiring in January 2010 and will honour all 24,000 offers made for FY09. “Around 1,800 graduates have joined us in Q2 and another 8,000 will join in Q3, rest of the graduates will join based on the demand,” a TCS spokeswoman said.
Infosys said for FY10, it has made 20,000 campus offers and expects an 80% conversion rate i.e. 16,000 of these offers to join the company. “We are honouring all our hiring commitments,” an Infosys spokeswoman said.
New Deals, Outsourcing, TCS, Wipro
TCS, Wipro eye $400 mn Target outsourcing deal
India’s top tech firms Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro and several others are pursuing Target’s captive technology centre for a potential acquisition, in what could be a transaction bundled with a long-term outsourcing contract worth $300-400 million. America’s second-biggest discount retailer Target has around 1,500 staff employed at its Bangalore centre, currently doing software development and maintenance work.
“We have been in discussions with them for the past few months and the dialogue is still open,” a senior executive at one of the tech firms exploring this transaction told ET on conditions of anonymity. “There is no conclusion yet about how this transaction can be structured, and it’s very early days,” he added. Both TCS and Wipro count Target as one of their top retail customers.
Some of the world’s top retailers, including UK’s Tesco and America’s speciality retailer Home Depot, have been outsourcing projects to Indian third-party service providers, including TCS and Infosys, apart from their own captive centres in order to support their existing IT systems and also develop newer applications. Tesco, for instance, saves over $100 million every year by outsourcing its IT projects to India, and primarily drives projects from its own captive in Bangalore.
“Target’s India centre could be doing at least $100 million worth of projects (revenues) every year,” another person familiar with the retailer’s India operations told ET on conditions of anonymity. Officials at Target did not reply to an email query sent by ET. TCS, Infosys and Wipro also declined to comment. Few years ago, many retailers started with an Indian captive operation as there were not many service providers who could understand their core operations better. Target entered India in 2004 through a JV with ANSRSource, a Texas-based BPO outsourcing company.
“There is a certain equity in building up the operations (captive) initially, but over the course of time, there is the objective of monetising the operations,” said Avinash Vashistha, CEO, Tholons, an offshore advisory firm.
“Once a particular process becomes commoditised, then any adding of additional resources is not justified as it adds up to the costs.”
TCS, one of Target’s Indian suppliers, supports the retailer’s operations from its delivery centres in Uruguay and Chile, apart from India. Target, which competes with Walmart Stores, reported quarterly revenues of $14.6 billion for the second quarter ended August this year.
Over the past few months, many companies have sold their technology captives in India. Divesting non-core captive operations is a strategy adopted by banks such as Citigroup and UBS for focusing better on their core operations, and also gain better outsourcing rates by bundling such transactions with a multi-year contract.
An upfront payment also helps them unlock value from non-core assets. Citibank sold its Indian back-office business to TCS for around $505 million in October last year, and Citi Technology Services for around $127 million to Wipro in December last year. Both these transactions came with assured outsourcing business of around $3 billion together for these vendors.
“We have been in discussions with them for the past few months and the dialogue is still open,” a senior executive at one of the tech firms exploring this transaction told ET on conditions of anonymity. “There is no conclusion yet about how this transaction can be structured, and it’s very early days,” he added. Both TCS and Wipro count Target as one of their top retail customers.
Some of the world’s top retailers, including UK’s Tesco and America’s speciality retailer Home Depot, have been outsourcing projects to Indian third-party service providers, including TCS and Infosys, apart from their own captive centres in order to support their existing IT systems and also develop newer applications. Tesco, for instance, saves over $100 million every year by outsourcing its IT projects to India, and primarily drives projects from its own captive in Bangalore.
“Target’s India centre could be doing at least $100 million worth of projects (revenues) every year,” another person familiar with the retailer’s India operations told ET on conditions of anonymity. Officials at Target did not reply to an email query sent by ET. TCS, Infosys and Wipro also declined to comment. Few years ago, many retailers started with an Indian captive operation as there were not many service providers who could understand their core operations better. Target entered India in 2004 through a JV with ANSRSource, a Texas-based BPO outsourcing company.
“There is a certain equity in building up the operations (captive) initially, but over the course of time, there is the objective of monetising the operations,” said Avinash Vashistha, CEO, Tholons, an offshore advisory firm.
“Once a particular process becomes commoditised, then any adding of additional resources is not justified as it adds up to the costs.”
TCS, one of Target’s Indian suppliers, supports the retailer’s operations from its delivery centres in Uruguay and Chile, apart from India. Target, which competes with Walmart Stores, reported quarterly revenues of $14.6 billion for the second quarter ended August this year.
Over the past few months, many companies have sold their technology captives in India. Divesting non-core captive operations is a strategy adopted by banks such as Citigroup and UBS for focusing better on their core operations, and also gain better outsourcing rates by bundling such transactions with a multi-year contract.
An upfront payment also helps them unlock value from non-core assets. Citibank sold its Indian back-office business to TCS for around $505 million in October last year, and Citi Technology Services for around $127 million to Wipro in December last year. Both these transactions came with assured outsourcing business of around $3 billion together for these vendors.
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